The US justice department on Wednesday fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, as reported by the news agency AP.Comey was a veteran lawyer in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She had worked on several high-profile cases, including the sex trafficking prosecution of financier Jeffrey Epstein and the recent case against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.Maurene Comey was considered a highly regarded prosecutor. She successfully helped prosecute Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former associate, who was convicted for her role in a sex trafficking operation.Earlier this month, she led the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, which ended with a split verdict: he was convicted on a prostitution-related charge but acquitted of more serious charges. Recently, Comey has faced criticism from figures within President Trump’s right-wing base. Conservative activist Laura Loomer has urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to remove Comey from her position in May, as reported by Politico. The Trump administration had previously reassigned some justice department lawyers involved in cases perceived as adversarial to the president, and Maurene Comey was considered a potential candidate for such a thing due to her father’s well-known differences with Trump over the past decade.James Comey was serving as FBI director when Donald Trump became president in 2017. He had been appointed to the position by former US President Barack Obama. However, his relationship with Trump was tense from the beginning. During a private dinner, Comey refused a request from Trump to promise personal loyalty.In May 2017, Trump dismissed James Comey while the FBI was investigating possible connections between his presidential campaign and Russia.According to media reports, no specific reason was given for her dismissal. Her firing marks the latest shake-up in the Southern District of New York, which has long been regarded as the most prestigious of the Justice Department’s prosecution offices.
